Ryan Schimpf Grand Slam Lifts Jays; Carlos Peguero Adds Pop for Mariners

Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Grapefruit League

Toronto's been tearing up the Grapefruit League, so on Tuesday, in their final exhibition game, they tore up the team that's been chasing them, Detroit, scoring 12 runs in the first five innings, en route to a 13-8 victory and first place with a shining, 24-7, record. The Tigers finished close behind, at 20-8.

Ryan Schrimpf

The big score - and the big inning - were largely the product of bench players and minor leaguers. Reserve infielder Ryan Schimpf socked a pinch hit grand slam to highlight the outburst in his only at-bat of the game.

Schimpf played college ball at LSU and spent last season with the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Class A Advanced Florida State League, so as the parent club heads North, he will stay in the Sunshine State.

A left-handed hitter, the 5'9" Schimpf has some pop. He's hit 18 homers in two seasons with the Class A club.

Cactus League

Seattle may have the AL rookie of the year in their lineup this season.

Carlos Peguero

Carlos Peguero has had a productive spring, batting .294 with five homers and 13 RBI. He will likely get plenty of playing time in left field for the Mariners this year.

Peguero smacked his fifth homer of the spring as part of a 4-for-5 day at the plate. He drove in three of Seattle's eight runs, though the Mariners finished on the short end of a 9-8 score against Colorado.

With exhibition season over, teams headed to their assigned opening day locales. Oakland led the Cactus League with a 14-7 mark, followed by Seattle, at 15-9. Both teams got the jump on the rest of the AL, splitting a pair of regular season games in Tokyo last week.

The National League gets the regular season started on Wednesday with a 7:05 pm EDT meeting in Miami between the Marlins and the world champion Cardinals. The game will be telecast live on ESPN.

More games - five in the NL and two in the AL - are slated for Thursday, with all teams getting their seasons started through the weekend.

It's time to Play Ball!